Exlor
They did lots of research on Larkinson's but ignored Ves character? It's Looks like he surrounded by Traitors/Backstabbers/Manipulators/Gloryhounds and Calabast have no idea about all the things davute managed to do ? Giving him few capital ships but bound his expert pilots / would be ace pilot / alliance partner to state side..
I understand Ves enough to see why he is uncomfortable, but in the end: what is the harm? 1. Melee expert pilots can excercise their power, other than fighting Phase Lords they are not that good against aliens unless they become ace pilots. 2. The Larkinsons can make sure Davute wins and thus protect their interests. 3. Getting a bigger say in Davute by contributing to the war effort will also secure the Davute branch's position.
I knew this will come up during the negotiation, but to be fair as the readers we are not subjected to Ves and the characters inside their own fog of war. It’s impossible for a person to know everything, in reality no one is omnipotent and leaders could be led astray by the flawed intelligence they are presented with. The latest war in Europe is an example of this, when the decision to invade was made because red carpets and flowers were expected to be thrown at the invaders rather than carpet like blood field and molotovs. Don’t expect the person who gives this intelligence and their family members to be still alive. Instead the best that they can hope is to have a swift and quick death. Back to the story. If the chapter where the davute makes the offer to Arc did not exist, then the readers would definitely be shocked and generate more of readers sense of drama at the end of this chapter. While this approach may not appeal to all readers, and more likely to generate mixed response. I feel that if the chapter with arc dialogue with Davute is presented after this chapter as a flashback, it would have been as enjoyable as drinking cold coke after choking on a unexpectedly delicious French fries. In fact the order of the chapter could be reorganized this way at anytime, without any editing needing to be made, and it will not disrupt the order of the story and future planning.